Men of the Cloth
by Courier999
Summary: Based on Chris Claremont's "God Loves, Man Kills". The various heroes of the Marvel universe find themselves facing a new threat- the Purifiers, religious fundamentalists who believe that all mutants are demons. Rated M for religious violence, racist/sexist/xenophobic language, and very scary content. R&R!


MARVEL CROSSOVER: Men Of The Cloth

_X-Men_, _Spider-Man_, _The Avengers_, and all related characters are property of Marvel Comics. Hemowhip is property of Claudia Scarlett Short.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This story isn't like any of my previous fanfics. It's slower, for one- don't expect as many action scenes this time around. But more importantly, this is my attempt to adapt a classic _X-Men_ story and try and bring it into my interpretation of the Marvel universe. It is here where I dedicate this story to Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson, the creators of the X-Men graphic novel which this humble fanfic is based on: _God Loves, Man Kills_.

This will not be fun to read. This is undoubtedly going to offend people for its depiction of religion. For the record, I am a Protestant and attend church services on a weekly basis. That being said, I am not a fundamentalist. As far as I am concerned, you can practice whatever religion you want just as long as you don't try to use it as justification for immoral/illegal activity or try to aggressively proselytize me.

The actions of some of the characters in this work are vile, repugnant, immoral, and hypocritical in some cases. This is a deliberate choice to depict those characters _specifically_ as being vile, repugnant, immoral, hypocritical, and in one case, insane. I do not condone their actions nor do I condone similar actions taken by some real-life fundamentalists.

This fanfic will contain triggers. There are scenes of religious violence, especially to women and children. There is going to be fairly strong derogatory language, with fairly little censorship. Most of this language will be anti-Semitic, racist, sexist, and xenophobic in nature. This is meant to cement the reader's opinion that the people espousing this talk are vile, repugnant, immoral, hypocritical, insane, or psychotic. If at any point you feel as if you cannot keep reading, then feel free to stop.

It is at this point where I wish to thank my readers for staying with me for nearly four years. Your feedback has been much appreciated for the most part, and in some cases, you have actually driven the stories more than I have.

And now, we begin.

Chapter 1: Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch To Live

ARIZONA:

"_Deténgase! Tengo una familia!_" a woman protested as an assembled mob of men in dark trenchcoats lashed her to a pole.

Out of the crowd came a man in a leather duster and wearing a cowboy hat. A psychotic smirk adorned his face.

"Well, what have we here? A genejoke and a mestizo? Well, you're definitely going back to the pit from whence you came!"

"_Libérame, te lo ruego!_" the woman pleaded.

The man laughed. It was a cold and evil laugh that rattled through the woman's brain.

"C'mon, boys! You remember what the Good Book says! Exodus 22:18- thou shalt not suffer a witch to live!"

The woman screamed as the mob placed straw at the base of the pole and soaked it in gasoline. Then, their leader stepped forward, grinning like a maniac.

"_Arde en el infierno._" the woman spat.

"Not likely."

One of the mob grabbed a jerry can and splashed gasoline on his victim before setting the straw ablaze. And as the flames consumed the woman, he laughed.

"Another demon goes back to Hell!" he shouted.

Just then, he turned.

"Looks like someone followed us out here. Get 'im!"

At that moment, the image of a rock slamming into a camera lens vanished as a low-budget fantasy program took its place on the television screen in room 206 of Dormitory 3 at the Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.

"Katherine Pryde, I was watching that!" a young blond woman with tortoiseshell glasses exclaimed.

Kitty Pryde swerved around and faced her roommate.

"Why would you want to watch that?"

"Look, I get a lot of flak just for hanging around you and Jubilee, much less the others. Besides, one of these days, we're going to run into those Purifiers, and I want to be prepared."

"Gwen Stacy, I don't think you're likely to go up against them."

"We'll see."

NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY SYSTEM:

"I got 'im in my sights! One chargrilled webhead- comin' up!"

Spider-Man wrapped his body around one of the poles in the subway car to deliver a flying kick to his opponent's head before webbing him up. Suddenly, the train came to a stop, and Spidey took the man up onto a rooftop.

"So, who put you up to this? Kingpin?"

"Purifiers, you son-of-a-bitch! I'm one of them, and you're going to Hell!"

"Wrong. You're going to the police."

The goon broke free of the webbing and aimed his flamethrower at Spider-Man.

"I fight for the L-"

As if on cue, a woman with platinum-blonde hair and clad in a skimpy black leotard leapt up onto the roof.

"Step back, whore!"

"Make me."

As if on cue, the woman pinned the Purifier down.

"Ever had a black cat cross your path?"

"Go-"

Black Cat punched the man.

"Well, if it isn't the wallcrawler." she purred.

"I wasn't expecting you to show up."

"I was in the area and heard the screaming. Thought I might lend a hand."

And with that, Black Cat descended back onto the streets of New York.


End file.
